Steven Smith

The Path

Formal training at Blackburn College sits behind the Ribble Valley work that made The Freemasons Wiswell central to Steven Smith’s trade record. As Chef Patron and owner / business partner there, the job combined cooking, ownership and the long discipline of building regular custom through a clear kitchen identity. That Ribble Valley chapter gives context to the Manchester work that followed. The line runs from Blackburn College to the daily responsibilities of The Freemasons Wiswell, then into KAJI, where Steven is Chef Patron and the cooking is organised around fire, proximity and service energy.

The Work Today

Fire-led Japanese-inspired cooking defines the current work at KAJI in Manchester, where Steven Smith works British produce through Asian flavours. The change is not only geographic. It changes the handling of ingredients: flame, smoke and seasoning are kept close to the guest, and coal-fired grills become part of the restaurant’s operating rhythm. At KAJI, the kitchen sears world-class ingredients over coal-fired grills and creates omakase. The format lets the meal move by sequence and contrast: heat against delicacy, richness checked by brightness, careful produce given char and smoke. Favourite small plates include the XL Orkney scallop baked in its shell with sea urchin butter, and spiced Himalayan salt aged beef tartare with sumo miso, Cacklebean hen egg yolk and smoked pickled cucumber. The construction is compact: shellfish with butter, beef with miso, smoke with pickle, yolk with seasoning. The Manchester chapter is framed by Smith’s own statement: “The time is just right now to sort of go again and let the world of gastronomy know that Steven Smith is still about and still got a few points to prove.” In trade terms, it reads as a return to pressure: a chef with a long Wiswell record now working over coal in Manchester, applying accumulated experience to a room built around heat, flavour and pace.

In Their Words “The time is just right now to sort of go again and let the world of gastronomy know that Steven Smith is still about and still got a few points to prove.”

Acclaim

Steven's honors include Top 10 spot in the Top 50 Gastropub Awards and Continual Top 50 rating.